SmarterBank Aims to Provide An Alternative for Student Loan Holders

From a blog post that appears on NetBanker regarding startup SmarterBank:

Startups are advised to find pain points, then build businesses to profitably solve them. Despite the current wave of very bad publicity around banks, especially the big ones, everyday banking isn’t a huge pain point for the 80% of households currently served by existing players.

What are the acute pain points in banking and personal finance?

Debt management, especially credit card and student loans

Home financing

Small business financing

Insurance

Retirement planning/saving

Three of these five have to do with the debt side of the consumer’s balance sheet. Yet, much of the talk about online/mobile banking innovations centers around spending management, payments, checking and savings accounts, and account access technology.

So I get pretty excited about innovations on the debt front. And last week, there was an interesting launch on the student loan management front, SmarterBank from Finovate alum, SimpleTuition. Its tagline says it all: The bank that helps you pay down your student loans.

As more banks and other financial institutions look for ways to differentiate themselves and attract new customers, they must often think outside the box to be relevant to their targeted demographics.

Creative banking concepts like SmarterBank will pique the interest of many prospects, particularly those in younger demographics. Not only is its model an online bank, but its rewards program targets a primary concern for many, student loan debt.

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